Samsung, the Korean electronics giant, has been on an acquisition spree ever since the company’s founder suffered a heart attack in 1997. In the late 1950s, Samsung bought three of Korea’s largest commercial banks and an insurance company, as well as cement and fertilizer companies. During the 1960s, the company bought more companies, including an oil refinery, nylon company, and department store. Today, Samsung employs over six million people in more than 80 countries, and its products continue to revolutionize the world.
Samsung’s founder collapsed from a heart attack
The 72-year-old chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Kun-hee, has collapsed in a hospital. He first had trouble breathing on Saturday night, so staffers performed CPR. He was transferred to a hospital run by the Samsung group before dawn Sunday, where he underwent a stent procedure. The cause of his heart attack is unknown. The Samsung Group is donating the money to various charities and helping the socially disadvantaged around the world.
Samsung’s design competency
The success of Samsung’s design team is a testament to its ability to leverage the power of the marketplace to accelerate innovation. As a result, it has created a dedicated corps of designers who have overcome internal resistance to pursue innovation and create a culture of design thinking throughout the company. Design thinking, a fundamental component of Samsung’s innovation strategy, provides a framework for reevaluating products in the face of dramatic technological change. Designers at Samsung are currently working on a variety of product concepts, from televisions to watches.
In addition to creating high-quality products, Samsung is known for making them easy to use. Unlike many Chinese manufacturers, Samsung has a global presence and is focused on ensuring its products are affordable for everyone. The company’s focus on design integration and ease of use has resulted in an impressive customer base, and the brand’s success is not limited to its products. In fact, it has even sponsored a major music festival in Las Vegas, which was attended by more than 60,000 people.
Although the company manufactures a variety of products, its focus on smartphones is arguably its core competency. The company’s smartphones are widely regarded as having the best operating system and most high-quality, but that perception has been reflected across the company’s range of products, from televisions to refrigerators. Their high-quality smartphone designs are what sell Samsung’s smartphones. As a result, Samsung’s design competency has led to the continued success of Samsung’s televisions.
While Samsung has embraced innovative technologies, it also possesses the infrastructure to successfully implement these new products. While the company’s flagship IT business has been a stable performer, it faced a high level of strategic uncertainty. As a result, most of its employees were resistant to change. However, Chairman Lee insisted on massive change management throughout the 1990s, reinforcing Samsung’s management system with a new, quality-driven goal, and investing in R&D and brand marketing to develop new products and technologies.
Its products
Samsung has continuously embraced digital media, creating groundbreaking interactive consumer experiences. While the company’s commitment to digital platforms has pushed the company beyond traditional advertising, it still spends a high proportion of its budget on traditional media. Here are some of its latest and greatest marketing efforts:
Its strategy
Samsung’s strategy involves both hardware and software innovation. The company is one of the few companies to have developed a curved display, and it also manufactures large-display phones. In addition, the company has improved the user experience of its phones with overlying software, such as the android operating system. Ultimately, this strategy has helped Samsung build a competitive advantage that can be sustained for years to come. But one question remains: can Samsung sustain its growth without such a strategy?
